Four new Australo-Oriental species of Paraneseuthia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae)

Abstract: Four new species of the eutheiine genus Paraneseuthia Franz, 1986 are described: P. luzonica sp. nov. (the Philippines), P. kaibesariana sp. nov. (Indonesia: Kai Besar Is.), P. tanimbariana sp. nov. (Indonesia: Yamdena Is.), and P. morobensis sp. nov. (Papua New Guinea). Externally, these species share many characters with members of the SE Asian, Sundaland group within the genus. However, male genitalic structures of some of them resemble aedeagi of Australian Paraneseuthia, supporting previous phylogeographic hypotheses that assumed the origins of both north-eastern (Far Russian and Japanese) and south-eastern (Australian and Melanesian) Paraneseuthia from a Sundaland ancestor. The aedeagus of P. morobensis sp. nov. shows intermediary shape and structures between those of P. quadrifoveata Jałoszyński, 2010 of Borneo, Sabah, and that of P. levigata Jałoszyński, 2010 of eastern Papua New Guinea. The aedeagus of P. tanimbariana sp. nov., in turn, shows a striking similarity to that of the northern Australian P. angustifurculata Jałoszyński, 2013 and other species known to occur in Australia. The male genitalia of P. luzonica sp. nov. (the first species discovered in the Philippines), and especially of P. kaibesariana sp. nov., add unique features to the already known, great morphological diversity of the SE Asian members of Paraneseuthia that occupy the presumable evolutionary cradle of this genus.

Key words: Coleoptera, Scydmaeninae, Cephenniitae, Eutheiini, Paraneseuthia, taxonomy, Australian Region, Oriental Region